Chapter 380

【"Oh, you're back, El-Melloi II."】

【At this time, an old grandfather with sparse gray hair and a goatee walked over; he was the old Mr. Sharl, who was responsible for substitute teaching.】

【El-Melloi II: "Is the old gentleman safe and sound too?"】

【Sharl: "Hahaha. Because you instructed to strengthen the Slur's defense, right? Almost no one in the facility was injured."】

【El-Melloi II nodded and asked Flat: "Flat, which place did Svin and Reines go to investigate?"】

【Flat pointed to the old school building, and El-Melloi II's face immediately became ugly again.】

【That was the center of the destruction.】

【El-Melloi II swayed and wanted to go over, but was hurriedly stopped by Gray: "No, Teacher! We don't know what happened yet!"】

【El-Melloi II: "How can I not go! Those are my foster sister and my student!"】

Rin Tohsaka: "Oh, oh, it has that flavor; I thought El-Melloi II was always calm in the face of change."】

Waver: "Knowing that relatives are in danger, how could one not be moved."】

Rin Tohsaka: "After all, you gave people a feeling of being too mature before."】

Shishigou Kairi: "But to have strengthened the Slur's defense in advance, did he anticipate that this would happen?"】

Waver: "No, it should just be better safe than sorry."】

【"Hmm, you love me so deeply, it makes me blush until my face is almost burning, but it's a pity that you won't find me in the old school building."】

【At this time, a figure jumped out from somewhere; it was Reines.】

【"Although the situation was quite dangerous, Svin protected me and managed to escape. Hmm, although Svin is receiving treatment, in short, we are both fine, I hope you can rest assured."】

【And seeing that they were both fine, El-Melloi II finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Gray hugged the other party directly.】

【"Alright, alright."】

【After comforting Gray, Reines continued: "There is another visitor, someone my brother met last time."】

【Reines signaled a direction, and Aozaki Touko appeared there at some point, leaning against the half-collapsed wall.】

Kayneth: "Phew... see, I said it would be fine."】

Rin Tohsaka: "Then why did you breathe a sigh of relief?"】

【El-Melloi II was stunned for a moment, then saluted: "It looks like I must thank you."】

【"Things just turned out like this naturally. Although I didn't expect to run into a Boundary Record Band."】

【Aozaki Touko shrugged and said: "I owe you one at Izelma, so we're even now. Then, I hope you return what I lent you."】

【"Are you talking about this?"】

【El-Melloi II took out a cigarette case; this was what Aozaki Touko asked him to keep at the Twin-Spire Iselma.】

【Aozaki Touko lit a cigarette, and El-Melloi II waited quietly for her to finish smoking before asking: "What happened?"】

【"Hmm, in the basement of the old school building."】

【Aozaki Touko immediately told what happened before.】

【"What do you intend to do?"】

【"I..."】

【El-Melloi II shook his head helplessly and said: "I don't know. I don't know what I should do anymore..."】

Fiore: "It seems that a series of major messages has left El-Melloi II a bit at a loss."】

Kayneth: "Perhaps this was also Hartless's intention."】

Shishigou Kairi: "Very likely, calculating to have everything exposed in one day, making El-Melloi II unable to bear so many shocks at once and collapse, thereby defeating this greatest enemy."】

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "If so, then this man is too terrifying, completely calculating El-Melloi II's action time."】

El-Melloi II: "Sigh..."】

【Aozaki Touko: "What a disappointing answer. What did you see?"】

【El-Melloi II told the other party what he discovered.】

【Aozaki Touko: "I see, some places were a bit beyond my expectations. The spell of Emiya who was sealed? Hmm, I've heard of it."】

【"Then, the answer you deduced has flaws. That is, what Hartless intends to do with the summoned Iskandar—that answer is missing from the inference."】

【El-Melloi II: "Yes..."】

【Aozaki Touko: "Do you no longer intend to track Hartless?"】

【El-Melloi II: "..."】

【Aozaki Touko: "I'll tell you one thing too, you'd better pay more attention to the corpse that appeared at the Burial Agency."】

【El-Melloi II: "..."】

【Aozaki Touko: "Goodbye, Lord."】

Rin Tohsaka: "No way, El-Melloi II really collapsed!"】

Waver: "Should... not yet, he can recover after a little rest."】

Shishigou Kairi: "After all, that is El-Melloi II, a strong man."】

【Time passed quickly for a day, and the Slur had already begun reconstruction, but El-Melloi II locked himself in his office and wouldn't come out.】

【Tomorrow is the time for the Grand Resolution to begin.】

【The students came to express their condolences when they saw El-Melloi II like this, but were blocked by Reines and the others.】

【Gray went in to see him and found El-Melloi II sitting on the sofa, as if he had suddenly aged dozens of years.】

【"... efore arriving at that workshop, I found the initial Whydunit."】

【El-Melloi II muttered: "That is the fact that Hartless wanted to carry out this case secretly."】

【Gray: "Eh? But, even if you say you want to be secret—"】

【El-Melloi II: "This means keeping it secret until the case of his disciple's death and the attack on the Slur occurred. Although they acted high-profile on the Rail Zeppelin, that was probably the only exception. Ah, he must have been serious about killing us at that time."】

【"Except for that case, whether it was the disappearance of other disciples, participating in the underground auction at Izelma before, or the fact that he monitored the Fourth Holy Grail War as he stated on the Rail Zeppelin, Dr. Hartless's actions were extremely quiet."】

【"I once thought it was the instinct of a magus who believed that mystery should be hidden; even so, after summoning such a powerful Servant, he was too quiet."】

【Gray: "What's going on with that?"】

【El-Melloi II: "This means that what he intends to do will have such a major impact on the magecraft world. So major that once it is known, all factions of the Clock Tower will Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take action to stop it. If not, most things can be solved by the Servant who obeys him. Because in modern times, almost no one is a match for a Heroic Spirit."】

【Gray: "Conversely, if it's the Clock Tower, is there a way to stop a Servant?"】

【El-Melloi II: "The situation would change then, my lady."】

【"For example, Faker is a magus of the Age of Gods; she controls the chariot Noble Phantasm that Iskandar drove with her own methods. If you add the condition of being able to use Noble Phantasms infinitely, even if the magi of the Clock Tower join forces, it would be difficult to stop her."】

【Gray: "Add a condition?"】

【El-Melloi II: "Because the magical energy sufficient to activate a Noble Phantasm cannot gush out infinitely."】

【"Plus, if the rules of the Holy Grail War are followed, a Servant still has the weakness of a Master. It should be extremely difficult to fight the Clock Tower while protecting the Master."】

【"A surprise attack might succeed once or twice, but that's all."】

【"As a magus of the Age of Gods, she might be superior in mystery, but as long as she is forced into a defensive position once, there are many means available. The means mentioned here might be phrased differently, called human malice."】

【"However, Hartless played his cards here."】

【"He may have judged that even if a little situation occurs in the Modern Magecraft Department, the Clock Tower will not Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take action. In fact, other departments should have been probing this matter long ago, but there is no sign of them coming to peek for the time being. However, since a Noble Phantasm has been used, the matter has a more significant meaning."】

【"In short, the Spirit Tomb Albion is their final destination. Even if they play their trump card, it doesn't matter if it attracts the attention of the Clock Tower. As long as they cross the mining city, even the Clock Tower will be out of reach."】

Kayneth: "To think it would cause the entire Clock Tower to oppose... Hartless, what on earth does this guy want to do?"】

Caules: "You said it was a secret operation, but before—"】

Fiore: "This means the plan has reached its end; he doesn't need to hide anymore."】

Waver: "The answer to all questions is probably at the Grand Resolution the next day."】

【Just at this moment, a knock on the door rang out.】

【The visitor was old Mr. Sharl; he came to report the situation.】

【The reconstruction of the Slur is going smoothly, Lord Norwich has accepted and is willing to provide assistance, and a barrier has been set up in the underground cave, and trusted aides have been found to guard it.】

【At the same time, Sharl also brought a letter, which was received this morning, designated for El-Melloi II.】

【Gray was startled when she saw the sender's name on the envelope.】

【It was actually Atrum Galliasta!】

Rin Tohsaka: "What? Atrum's letter! Isn't he dead?"】

Caules: "I'm afraid he asked someone to send it before he died."】

Shishigou Kairi: "To have such a letter appear suddenly at this time, could it be that the other party discovered some clues and didn't have time to tell El-Melloi II?"】

Fiore: "Should not be, Atrum doesn't seem to have participated in Hartless's incident."】

Waver: "Then, I'm afraid it's related to the Fifth Holy Grail War."】

【After Sharl left, El-Melloi II opened the envelope, and inside was a recording disc.】

【Fortunately, El-Melloi II has a computer here, otherwise he really wouldn't know how to watch it.】

【On the disc was the last video left by Atrum.】